Well I have started making a list of repairs for my LaCrosse. This past month has been fun...

1) Right before the memorial day weekend, I was getting the car loaded for my fiancee and I to go visit her folks, I go to put a couple things in the backseat, so I hit the unlock button on my keyfob, and nothing, neither rear door and the front passenger door unlocked, only the driver door unlocked. Checked both door lock switches on the front doors, nothing. Checked the other keyfob, nothing. The next day, the car fully unlocked first thing in the morning, but as the day went on the locks would either work, or not work. Ended up having the dealer check the system, since it had to get another recall done, and those 3 door lock actuators are shot, for the dealer to do it would cost almost $900! I did more research, and GM and their infinite wisdom, used a metal gear against a plastic gear for the internals of actuator, and they are a common failure on my generation LaCrosse, with failures as early as 2k miles and a year off the assembly line, as well as some other GM products as well... Talk about WTF...

2) Well last Thursday, a bunch of heavy rainstorms came through the Akron area, caused a lot of flash flooding. My mom and I were out running errands in my LaCrosse, we ended up having to take an extended detour as well as some fording, because a lot of roads had a lot of standing water, as well as some of the drains were puking water back onto the streets instead of draining it away. I had to call on the Buick's roots to wade through some of the worse areas, the car made it through like a champ, but it was nail-biting at times in general. I had figured, if a Toyota Corolla had forded the water and made it through, then so can I...

After the rain ended, I checked the front lights, air intake and a couple other areas I thought water could get into and possibly cause problems in those areas, and the only problem that showed up was I lost the low-tone on the horn. I figure I got off lucky if the car had to have any issues, I'd rather lose one of the horns then the engine or something else.

Other than all that, the car is running like a champ, it is currently sitting around 37k on it.

Today I built a new, better flowing air intake for my Mustang. Afterward, I replaced all of the following with new Motorcraft parts: spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, ignition coil, PCV, and air filter.

Today I built a new, better flowing air intake for my Mustang. Afterward, I replaced all of the following with new Motorcraft parts: spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, ignition coil, PCV, and air filter.

Flaw, engines move... There's no more accordion for the intake onto the TB for when the motor does indeed move, basically made a solid mount intake... Also those hose clamps all over the place...

Diesel engines only use silicone boots like that for all the intake plumbing from the intake to all the inter-cooler connections and hold up just fine. The clamps are obviously much stronger to handle the upwards of 30lbs of boost. Those little rubber boots should be able to soak up the minimal movement that little 2.3L has anyway.

Would I consider it rice? As much as I love hatin' on Brian's Muscort, the original tubing was bloated and horrible, so the intake probably will help with being reliable and not collapsing in on itself or possibly developing a leak bypassing the intake. So I don't consider it rice. However, it might be able to keep up with my Aveo now

Speaking of the Aveo, I made a video film of the A/C issue. Can't quite put my finger on it:

Now for the Endeavor, I think I found the A/C Leak! The compression fitting I installed is holding beautifully and not leaking from there, but I see dye at the compressor, so probably a new O-Ring and I should be in business on the Endeavor for ice cold A/C

New wheels on the Charger! Decided to go with the "Brass Monkey" wheels off the Charger Hellcat. Staggered setup with 9" wheels in the front, 10" in the rear. OEM 245/45R20 Eagle RS-A 2's in front, and two new 275/40R20 Nitto Invo's in the rear.

New wheels on the Charger! Decided to go with the "Brass Monkey" wheels off the Charger Hellcat. Staggered setup with 9" wheels in the front, 10" in the rear. OEM 245/45R20 Eagle RS-A 2's in front, and two new 275/40R20 Nitto Invo's in the rear.

The MKZ needed an oil change, so I rolled over to Advance Auto Parts planning on grabbing Motorcraft stuff, then I saw they were doing a sale on Valvoline Full Synthetic combined with a Purolator Boss oil (top line) filter for $29.99, which was around $32 and some change. Regular cost would have been nearly $50, since the oil was usually $37 and the filter was around $13. Grabbed 6 quarts (because Duratec and that weird 5.5 quart capacity) of the 5W-20 and couldn't be happier with the cost.

I put the car on a 10K OCI since it seems reasonable given the oil and filter type.

Welded subframe connectors and a bolt in K-member brace (to significantly stiffen up the unibody), KYB shocks, Eibach swaybars plus new tie-rod ends and balljoints with a proper alignment, upgraded rear axle control arms and bushings, and new door hinge check springs (so the doors won't immediately swing shut parked on an incline anymore) have all been installed by the same neighborhood shop that restored Kevin's blue T-Bird. She's going to ride and handle like a much newer car.